An Eclectic Jewish-Mexican Wedding at The Cookery in Durham, North Carolina

The wedding of Anya Warburg and Chris Ford was lively, personalized and full of color and personality. "What was most important to us in planning our wedding was that it be truly representative of us as a couple and that our guests have a ton of fun," Anya says. "We come from very different backgrounds and cultures (Mexican and Jewish) so we really enjoyed integrating aspects of both into the ceremony and reception." Guests were first introduced to the wedding with an engraved wood invitation. The restaurant venue, which had industrial brick walls and modern architecture, was dressed up with colorful flower arrangements. "We wanted to use bright colors to contrast and complement some of our darker and deeper shades of blue and green in the bridal party attire," Anya says. Since she's part of a New York City–based theater community, the couple's friends incorporated meaningful performances throughout the night. "Thirty of our friends sang for our first dance as well as our parent dances," Anya says. "During the ceremony, two close friends sang a song in memory of our grandmothers who both passed away the year prior to our wedding. And most entertaining of all, our good friend Ms. Whendy Whaxwhood did two drag performances—one to get the party started after dinner, and one with full choreography later in the reception. She was a big hit!" Instead of a wedding cake, the couple served pie and ice cream to their guests. Our favorite #MakeTradition Moment: "In addition to incorporating both Mexican and Jewish wedding traditions, we had a good friend as our officiant who speaks both English and Spanish, incorporating both languages into the ceremony," Anya says.